HOHENFELS, Germany -- Group Fitness Instructor and personal trainer at Hohenfels Post Gym, Paige Vlieger, flexed her muscles at the Fitness Helsinki sport and fitness physique competition in Finland, recently, taking third place in her division.
Team Armed Forces Europe invited Vlieger to Helsinki, and the team swept the competition with a total of 21 top three placements over two days of competition.
"As far as competitions go, I never feel like I'm there to compete against anybody. It's always me against me," Vlieger said. "My goal with each show that I do is just to bring a better package than I brought previously. And so far, I have accomplished that goal."
Last year, Vlieger competed in the Stuttgart Classic and the IFBB U.S. - German Cup. She told herself before Fitness Helsinki that it would be her only competition this year, but she's already having second thoughts.
"It's kind of an addictive process," she laughed.
Looking at Vlieger's bulging biceps and ripped abs, it's hard to believe that five short years ago, she tipped the scales at 280 pounds. But after the birth of her daughter, Vlieger knew she had to make a change.
"I had this four month old baby that was full of energy, and I couldn't keep up," the 44-year old Vlieger said. "I feel I owe it to her. I'm going to be 60 when she graduates and I didn't want to be the unhealthy old mom in the crowd."
Stationed in Baumholder in 2010 with her husband deployed, Vlieger started hitting the gym. That year she lost 125 pounds.
"My husband was pretty shocked," she said. "I was literally half the person I was when he had left."
Vlieger didn't stop there, though, and went on to earn her degree in Nutrition and Exercise Science and become a certified personal trainer. She shares her expertise not only with clients at the Post Gym, but also through her online coaching business, "Light a Fire Fitness."
"I work exclusively with women," Vlieger said. "I don't just do fitness and nutrition. I also do life coaching because there's such a big connection between how we live and our feelings and self esteem -- especially as women -- that tie into our fitness and our food habits."
Vlieger took that attitude to Helsinki as well, and became the unofficial team "mother."
"I had an easy 10 years on the oldest competitor there, and being that, I kind of took on the coaching and mothering role," she said. "But I like that; that's what I do through my work -- try and build that confidence up and empower women."
Vlieger enjoys moving heavy weights and says her favorite exercises are squats and deadlifts, but she stresses that the gym is secondary to diet.
"You have to eat for your goals," she said. "Diet is a dirty word, and it's temporary. Being healthy is not something anyone wants to do temporarily."
She reminds her clients that there is only so much she can do as a coach, and fitness requires personal responsibility.
"You're going to get as much out of it as you put in," she said. "There are no shortcuts. There's no magic pill, there's no lotion; there's nothing that can take the place of diet and exercise."
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